[MUSIC] The learning stage is over when you have exhausted all that, you both know have generated options for resolving the challenge or opportunity. And the planning stages over when you have decided on an option and listed the next steps to implement it. If you do not have confidence, the coach, he can implement the action steps, you delineated in the planning stage. The coaching conversation is not over most likely there's something missing in the action plan that is needed for the coach, he to achieve it, but occasionally you, as the coach might have to go back to the learning stage to discover what that is. Assuming you feel confident in the plan and the coaches implementation ability, you and they need a sense of closure now, at the end of the conversation. You have a shared understanding of the challenge or opportunity and that insight is on a deeper level than it was when the conversation began. You have selected an option to resolve the challenge, meet the opportunity or investigate further and you have a plan of action that the coache will engage in to accomplish that. You might feel closure here because you have been managing the process but the coache may not be aware of all that was accomplished. Without closure, the coache might be unsure about what was resolved, what they are to do next and by when and could be thinking that the conversation was a waste of time. During this final stage, you will gain the coache's commitment to the plan of action by having them summarize what they will do and by when. Put a follow up date and time on your calendar for a status update and let the coache see you do it, ask them to do the same. It's a commitment for both of you when it's on your calendar. If the plan is to gather more information and then make a decision on something, then set a date for the decision meeting now. State your belief, the coache, he has the ability to complete their steps. This was a big challenge, I have complete confidence in your ability to use this plan to resolve it or I know this was difficult to dig into, I appreciate your candor. You have experience solving these challenges and you have a solid set of steps to follow. I'm here if you have any questions or get stuck, I have confidence in you. Thus, during the closing stage, the coache states their understanding of the next steps. You both have put a follow up note or a meeting time on your calendar and you, the coach have affirmed your belief in the coache and their plan. I have presented this as a linear conversation open, learn, plan, close, but it tends to be a little more iterative, especially with people who have no experience being coached like this. It looks efficient, but people are not efficient. You can be efficient with your work, your projects, your work email, your folders, your workspace, but you cannot be efficient with people. With people, your goal is effectiveness. As a manager, you will be far less stressed and frustrated when you accept this as fact. When talking with my direct reports, it is more important to be effective than efficient. That may mean that you and the coache move into the learning stage, confident you have a solid and shared definition of the challenge, but as more information comes forward for both of you, you realize it needs to be redefined. Or as you're planning, you discover a way to improve on the options you've generated in the learning stage. It is okay to go back to an earlier stage when needed. For the most part though, focus on moving through the process towards your ultimate goal. The goal may have been to resolve a challenge or brainstorm on an opportunity, but the ultimate goals of all coaching conversations are to build the other person's ability to solve their own challenges. Encourage their internal drive to shine and develop a relationship that enables you to coach again in the future. Throughout every stage, focus on creating a conversation of discovery. The process of coaching might feel stilted at first. We don't usually say we have defined the problem, let's now diagnose the causes before we generate options to resolve it. Yet it is the obvious movement from one stage to the next that makes it psychologically satisfying for the coache. Indiscernible forward progress motivates both the coach and the coache to stick with it. So if you feel stilted at first, please accept my promise that with time and practice, practice, practice, practice, you will feel more comfortable with it.
